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THis isnt really about a technique in particular..i just wanted to ask how much time does it take before you can get your technique in good enough shape , on average, to actually use it if need be on the street???

hugely variable imo. Depends alot on the dojo, their training methods and the individual involved. If you are training in a resistance art like BJJ (as per the other thread) you may find that helps you to functionalise Aikido a little quicker. IOW although you won't be doing the same sort of sparring in Aikido, the fact you are doing it somewhere else will give you those attributes which you may be able to apply to Aikido.

In the end though, I'd say Aikido as with any MA is not really about how quickly you can be a bad ass - the people who stick with it and get good enough to open a can of whoop ass are invariably those that are there for the share joy of training. If training isn't reward enough in itself, you will unlikely get to the self defence point. And I'm not convinced that equation doesn't hold true for other arts as well.

"When your only tool is a hammer every problem starts to look like a nail"

IMHO, street fighting is more a matter of attitude than specific technique or style. Therefore, it may be more a question of how (not how long) can you get your mind out of the fear based responses of flight or freeze and into a fight or flow response.

Lynn Seiser PhD
Yondan Aikido & FMA/JKD
We do not rise to the level of our expectations, but fall to the level of our training. Train well. KWATZ!

street wise
It would be helpful, though
I have been attacked viciously by the street, pavement or bushes after getting out of a pub.
I can tell you that the street is very good at koshi nague, it was really a difficult to take ukemi

street wise
It would be helpful, though
I have been attacked viciously by the street, pavement or bushes after getting out of a pub.

Wouldn't this be the point where your ukemi then turns it nage? Since you cannot throw the street your best option would be to fall on it and pin the street down. I'm thinking a modified Ikkyo pin would be great. This would be the one exception to having your back straight, shoulders hunched, and your head down. Picture it. The street throws you. So you do a fall... get on all fours into this modify Ikkyo pin. You can also throw in an atemi of vomit for good measure. It is likely to make the street think twice about throwing you again!

I put my right foot in, I put my left foot out, I do the Aikipokey and throw you all about

Picture it. The street throws you. So you do a fall... get on all fours into this modify Ikkyo pin. You can also throw in an atemi of vomit for good measure. It is likely to make the street think twice about throwing you again!

And when the passing police officer asks you what the hell are you doing. You reply, Apply an ikkyo pin on the street that attacked me since I can't find its wrist." Instead of be charge with public intoxication you are sent to the local hospital's psych ward.

IMHO, street fighting is more a matter of attitude than specific technique or style. Therefore, it may be more a question of how (not how long) can you get your mind out of the fear based responses of flight or freeze and into a fight or flow response.

And this is consistent with my personal experience.

A long time ago, in another life...

...okay, it was when I was a kid living in Kaneohe, HI.

Fighting was just a part of my day then. "And today's fight features...". The fights I won were always ones where I started with the attitude that I could win. This continued even as my mother moved us around the country all the way into high school.

A couple of the neighborhoods I lived in were all about fighting. Weapons happened, though they weren't as common (I don't think) as they are today.

But if you are training to win fights, you might as well stop now. Every time I "won" a fight I'd then have to deal with three or four other fights with people who were friends of the person I'd beat. Usually, they were bigger, more skilled and more confident in their abilities than I was.

I described that experience to some teens I was teaching a few years ago. They said that in some cases today you are more likely to have to deal with a bullet in your head the next day. Okay, these kids came from rough neighborhoods (okay, bloody dangerous neighborhoods), but this is why I have a problem with the whole "I can win street fights" goal.

You don't ever win. They best you can hope for is to not need to fight anymore.

Am sitting here with a broken arm after a street jumped up on me after the pub on friday night! Have come up with a few good excuses but have not had one bit of sympathy as my friends and family are still rolling about laughing. Pride hurts more than the arm

I hear you Michael Riehle...i didnt mean to imply that i want to train to go out and street fight or anything like that...i was just wondering about how long it took for someone in aikido to feel confident about there technique........

on another note, now that you guys have been talking about it, i just remembered that i got jumped by the street about a month ago too....well actually it was more like the railroad and the street teamed up on me.....lol